Summary:

The first half of 2011 couldn't have ended any uglier for the Orioles. The seven-game losing streak couldn't drown out the thud that was an ejection-marred series against the division rival Red Sox. The clubs emptied the benches twice Friday and some high-and-tight pitches Sunday rounded out the four-game Boston sweep as both managers were ejected. Orioles players insisted they were sticking up for themselves, perhaps after a breaking point in which they felt like Boston was having its way with the Baltimore club. This season was supposed to be one where the Orioles finally challenged the elusive .500 win percentage. The team upgraded its offense in the offseason through trades -- acquiring Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy -- and via free agency -- signing Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero. But the sore spot has been the rotation, which looked strong after the season's first two weeks. Now, the rotation is devoid of its most promising starters -- with Brian Matusz, Zach Britton and Chris Tillman all in the minors. The only hope for the Orioles' fan base -- which hasn't seen a winner since the 1997 season -- is that the club will finish strong, like it did after manager Buck Showalter took over.

The Orioles were swept in Cleveland, April 15-17, by scores of 8-2, 8-3 and 4-2. Masterson and Tomlin each earned a victory.

Pitching matchups:

RHP Justin Masterson (7-6, 2.64 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Guthrie (3-12, 4.23), Tonight at 7:05 p.m.

RHP Josh Tomlin (10-4, 3.81) vs. RHP Jake Arrieta (9-6, 4.90), Friday at 7:05 p.m.

RHP Carlos Carrasco (8-6, 4.28) vs. RHP Alfredo Simon (1-2, 4.85), Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

RHP Jeanmar Gomez (0-1, 4.91) vs. TBA, Sunday at 1:35 p.m.

Oriole Injuries:

• RHP Brad Bergesen (right forearm contusion) left the July 8 game after being struck by a line drive. X-rays were negative, and he is day-to-day.

• LF Luke Scott (torn labrum in right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 4. A medical test July 8 found no need for surgery, and he is expected to be activated July 19.

• 2B Brian Roberts (concussion-like symptoms) went on the seven-day disabled list retroactive to May 17.

• INF Cesar Izturis (ulnar nerve injury in right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 17, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 21. He had surgery May 24. As of July 3, he was hitting and handling other baseball activities at the club's spring training base. He might be able to start a rehab assignment after the All-Star break.

• RHP Justin Duchscherer (sore left hip, sore back) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22 and was moved to the 60-day list on April 18. He underwent a medical procedure April 7 to relieve back pain. He threw two innings in extended spring training May 13, but he was scratched from a scheduled May 18 appearance. He had another setback in extended spring training June 7, when he experienced gluteal spasms. He cut short another extended spring training outing June 16 because of pain in his left hip. On July 11, he was given clearance to resume workouts in Sarasota, Fla.

Oriole News/Notes:

• LF Luke Scott continues to make progress in his recovery from a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder. He is expected to be ready to come off the disabled list July 19, the first day he is eligible to return.

• RHP Justin Duchscherer was given clearance Monday by Orioles ortopedist John Wilckens to resume working out at the team's complex in Sarasota, Fla. Duchscherer has been on the disabled list all season because of hip and shoulder injuries.

• RHP Mitch Atkins was officially welcomed to the American League East Sunday. After an impressive Orioles debut in his start at Texas last week, Atkins didn't escape the second inning Sunday. He allowed six runs on seven hits—including three homers—in 1 1/3 innings.

• RHP Jeremy Guthrie was needed in relief Sunday, but is scheduled to start the opener of the second half Thursday. Guthrie fell to 3-12, despite giving up just one run on three hits over 3.1 innings. When the second half opens, he will be followed by RHP Jake Arrieta Friday and RHP Alfredo Simon Saturday. The remainder of the rotation was not announced Sunday.

• 3B Mark Reynolds left in the third inning after being hit on the right hand with a Kyle Wieland pitch. INF Robert Andino moved from second to third, and INF/OF Blake Davis entered to play second. Reynolds entered Sunday with 15 strikeouts in his previous 30 at-bats. The slugger has shown improvement in the first half in striking out less, but has been inconsistent offensively and defensively for much of the season.

• DH Vladimir Guerrero followed in 3B Mark Reynold's footsteps, departing Sunday's game in the seventh after he was hit on the right hand. Guerrero was 1-for-2 with an RBI before he departed. OF Felix Pie replaced him at designated hitter.

• LHP Zach Britton was surprised by his demotion Saturday, but the move could allow the Orioles to gain back the year of service time they planned to spare this spring. According to The Sun, the plan is for Britton to return June 30, providing him the necessary 20 days to gain back a year of service time. The Orioles initially planned to keep Britton in the minors through April, but they were forced to call him up when LHP Brian Matusz was hurt on opening day.

Player of the Game

This will be the only game of the season that the 'Player of the Game' is not an Indian. Try as hard as they could, neither Tribe representative was able to make a big enough difference in the outcome of the game. This is also the only game of the season where I keep track of both teams scores as this is very complex and time consuming. The final team 'POG' scores were 21.00 for the NL and 3.27 for the AL. Adrian Gonzalez was the American League's best player with a final score of 3.15, but the real 'Player of the Game' was Prince Fielder, who won the game with a 3 run home run and finished the game with a final 'POG' score of 5.42.

Asdrubal Cabrera

Asdrubal started at shortstop for the American League due to the fact that the shortstop who was voted into the game, Derek Jeter, didn't even bother to show up. While he absolutely deserved the start, he wasn't all that spectacular as he went 0-2 with a strike out before he was replaced by former Indian shortstop, Jhonny Peralta. Cabrera was unable to show off his glove as well as he muffed the only ball hit to him. Overall this game really isn't important and he didn't give up any unearned runs so hopefully he had a good time at his first of what should be many All-Star games.

Chris Perez

The Rage was alive and raging in Phoenix as Chris Perez pitched a scoreless inning against the National League. He pitched the 6th inning and didn't have a lead at the time so it was a little different situation than he is used to. None of that mattered to Perez as he still excelled, striking out NL MVP Joey Votto and only allowing one hit to his former teammate Yadier Molina. His scoreless outing kept the American League within three runs. With Mariano Rivera also sitting out, Chris Perez was the best closer available to the AL, but manager Ron Washington still decided to use him early in the game.

Of the game itself, the American League was hurt by injuries and drop outs as some of the best players in baseball were kept out of the game. Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Jon Lester, C.C. Sabathia, David Price, James Shields, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez all dropped out of the game beforehand for one reason or another while Josh Beckett and Miguel Cabrera were each injured during the game and were unable to play. The players lost by the NL were no where near the stature of those lost by the AL and this really slanted the odds toward the NL before the game even started.

Final Score: American League 1 - National League 5

Best player: Righthander Alex White opened at Triple-A Columbus with a 1.90 ERA in four starts, then went 1-0, 3.60 in three big league starts before suffering a sprained right middle finger that has sidelined him since May 21.

As White rehabs, lefthander Drew Pomeranz is following in his footsteps as another fast-track draft pick. The fifth overall pick in 2010, Pomeranz, like White, began his career at high Class A Kinston. Pomeranz was off to a 2-2, 1.93 start through 12 outings in the Carolina League, with a potential promotion to Double-A looming.

Biggest Leap Forward: Infielder Cord Phelps wasn't a popular name on the lips of Tribe fans entering the season. Yet Phelps hit his way into the big league lineup just when the club needed an offensive spark. Originally a second baseman, Phelps has spent the last year and a half moving around the infield between second base, shortstop and third base, while mixing in appearances at Columbus as a DH. After batting .299/.391/.488 in 55 games for Columbus, Phelps was promoted to Cleveland in June. He was hitting .196/.315/.326 through 19 games, but he did chip in a three-run walkoff home run to help beat the Pirates on June 19.

Biggest Disappointment: The pure athleticism of outfielder LeVon Washington was too much for the Indians to pass up in last year's draft, despite warning signs about his maturity. Still, the Tribe rolled the dice and selected Washington out of Chipola (Fla.) CC with their second-round pick, handing him a $1.2 million bonus.

Considered raw with a below-average arm in the outfield, the one thing Washington was expected to do was hit. However, he has struggled at the plate at low Class A Lake County to start the season, batting .219/.330/.332 in 49 games.

Before the season, most members of the media and baseball experts saw the Indians finishing a distant fourth or perhaps even fifth in the 2011 Central. However, the team jumped out to a big early lead, and although things have slowed down for the Tribe, at the All-Star break they are only half a game behind division-leading Detroit. Players such as Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana, Justin Masterson, JoshTomlin, and Carlos Carrasco have led the charge. Like all teams (especially those in the AL Central), the Indians have holes, especially with Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore taking their traditional stints to the disabled list. Such holes aren't always easy to fill. However, during yesterday’s Cleveland-Toronto tilt, as the Blue Jays’ announce team raved about Orlando Cabrera‘s status as a veteran leader and good luck charm, it struck me again that the Indians do have a obvious solution in at least one spot. According to second base prospect Jason Kipnis (who hit a home run in Sunday night’s Futures Game), the team has his phone number. Why won’t they give him a call?

I’ll be the first to admit that I have no way of knowing what sort of miraculous effects Orlando Cabrera’s intangibles have on a team — maybe he really is the cause of Cleveland’s run at the division title this season. Leaving that possibility aside, he’s been statistically bad this season. Yet he has started 70 games at second base. He might have made sense as a stopgap for the team before the season, but if they are serious about making a run at the division, it’s time to move on.

The real issue here is Kipnis. Along with recent call-up Lonnie Chisenhall, Kipnis is widely regarded as one of Cleveland’s top prospects. Indeed, I’ve even seen him listed ahead of Chisenhall in one or two places. It is interesting to compare Kipnis’s numbers in the minors to fellow-converted second baseman Dustin Ackley. While Ackley (23) is rightly considered the superior prospect, Kipnis (24) is only a year older, his numbers on similar levels are every bit as good as Ackley’s, and while Kipnis’s fielding at second is described as a work in progress, I don’t think that’s any different than Ackley’s situation. The Mariners probably are out of it for good this season, but they saw Ackley as ready, and called him up.

Of course, just because Seattle called their hot second base prospect up doesn’t mean that Cleveland should do the same. The more interesting comparison is with Cleveland’s own decision to call up Chisenhall (21) to play third base. Despite the exceptions I mentioned above, most prospect-watchers do consider Chisenhall to be the superior prospect to Kipnis, as his young age allows for greater upside. His glove is also better at his position. However, prior to the season few expected Chisenhall to be up before September. Moreover, Chisenhall wasn’t exactly tearing it up at AAA this season, and had some injury issues as well. However, one might be able to understand the Indians’ decision to call Chisenhall up given that they are in the divisional race and that Jack Hanahan is only a stopgap himself. However, just about any justification of that sort used for calling up Chisenhall applies even moreso to Kipnis. Hannahan is only a stopgap, but I would argue that he’s better than Cabrera (he at least isn’t worse). Whatever their respective upsides, Kipnis’ bat is clearly better than Chisenhall’s a the moment. If the team wants to preserve service time, then why would they call up Chisenhall?

There are other issues but they are easily set aside: the team does have more “depth” at second, but if they seriously wanted to give Luis Valbuena another chance, they wouldn’t have given Cabrera the job in the first place. Joe suggests the team even trade from this depth. Cord Phelps is a more interesting issue, but it isn’t clear that the team views him as a serious option (rightly or wrongly). If they are trying to win this season, they need to go with the best player at the position, and that this point, it’s Kipnis. Hopefully for Tribe fans, he comes up after the break is over. I’m sure the team has their reasons for the decisions they’ve made, but in light of the aggressive promotion of Chisenhall, I honestly can’t see why Kipnis isn’t up already.

Jason Kipnis needs to be called up from Columbus... soon.

It's time for the All-Star break and the 2011 have been an overall success. While some claim that the Indians have already done enough, by coming within 22 wins of last seasons total at the half way mark, I don't buy that. Last year is firmly in the past and anything can happen in the future. Past seasons performance should never keep a team from competing at its absolute best with the ultimate goal in mind. 89 games into the 2011 season, the Indians find themselves in 2nd place in the AL Central, only a half game behind the favored Detroit Tigers. This is not a mistake. The Indians didn't get any free wins and haven't played better than their record either. This isn't the 2001 Mariners who overachieved in every aspect of the game with almost an entire lineup filled with players who had career years. The team batting average is .250 and they are right in the middle of the pack as far as runs scored and allowed. This can be seen multiple ways.

First, it means the Indians are not playing beyond their abilities, meaning they will probably not have a huge let down. It also means that you probably can't expect a whole lot more out of these guys. One benefit the Indians do have going into the second half is that they were not always playing at full strength during the first half. Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore, Carlos Carrasco, Mitch Talbot, Fausto Carmona and Matt LaPorta all missed a significant amount of time and will hopefully be able to finish out the season in full health. The worst injury still looms ahead for the Tribe with Shin-Soo Choo out until basically the end of the regular season. Another injured player that will be coming back to the team soon is Trevor Crowe. He has missed the entire season to this point with a broken wing, but should be back soon. While it is unknown how well he will be able to perform coming off an injury, he has quietly put together a couple good seasons for the Indians and would be a better replacement in right field for Choo than either Travis Buck or Austin Kearns can be. Crowe has 26 steals and 70 runs scored along with 154 hits in what amounts to just over a regular seasons worth of at bats (625).

Everyone who has watched the Indians play this season can tell you they have won as many games as they have because of their pitching. While the starting pitching has been above average and has kept the Indians in almost every game, the bullpen has been magnificent on a possibly historical level. The Indians best pitchers in terms of ERA (Justin Masterson, Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano, Joe Smith and Josh Judy are all under 3.00) have combined for an ERA of 2.38 in 299 innings pitching. Josh Tomlin, Alex White and Frank Herrmann all have ERAs under 4.00 as well. Smith deserves as special notation as he has only allowed 3 runs this season in 31.2 innings for an ERA of 0.85. Masterson has by far been the best starter, holding an ERA of 2.64 and leads the all starters in home runs allowed (4) and strikeouts (87). Home runs have been a slight problem for the starting staff in general with every other pitcher giving up at least 10 so far this season.

The Indians have had so many injuries during the early part of the season that projecting stats for the rest of the season difficult. I did a straight extrapolation of each starter's stats who I think will finish the rest of the season as a starter. To figure out the projected games played for each player I assumed that all injuries are 100% healed and no player will be injured for the rest of the season. While this is wishful thinking, there is no way to predict injuries. I then took the percent of games played when each player was able and used that for the rest of 2011. Adding those projected end of season stats with the ones that already happened looks a little something like this:

While none of these players are bordering on records, their numbers will be respectable if they can keep up the pace and get near these numbers. 2011 has been a year of the pitcher all around the Majors so, unless your name is Jose Bautista, you can't expect a whole lot. Major League pitching has been so amazing this season that Justin Masterson and his 2.64 ERA (7th in the AL) did not even make the All-Star team even though 6 pitchers dropped out of the game due to injury or because they started on Sunday. Asdrubal Cabrera has done the best so far of all the Indians hitters, which earned him his All-Star Game start, and his numbers are very good for a short stop, but even they are no where near great. Cabrera is the one veteran who is having a career year and has already crushed most of his career highs and will certainly beat the rest by the end of the year. 

As far as the rest of the season goes, no one can really tell. The Indians have placed themselves in strong contention for the Central Division crown and will be able to control their own destiny for the rest of the season. The Tribe has 16 series against other Central Division teams out of the 23 left in the season. The Twins and Royals seem to have removed themselves from contention, but will still remain hard teams to beat for the rest of the season. Right now the Indians 4.29 runs allowed per game is the best since 2005 (3.96 RA/G) and better than every team in the 90's except for 1995 (4.22). If they can keep up this amazing pitching combined with the return of Alex White and can increase the level of the offense now that everybody is healthy (except Choo) there is no reason the Indians won't be able to clinch this thing by September 1st.

Austin Kearns is being removed from my black list, because he has a positive 'POG' score in his last 7 games and because I'm ending all running bits before the All-Star break. If you aren't a regular reader of my post games, you probably don't have any clue what I'm talking about. Of course you might not know what a 'Player of the Game' score is in the first place, so click here to find out about my 'Player of the Game' scoring system and here to learn about why Austin Kearns has been not mentioned on this site for the last couple weeks. Look out for all new bits in the second half, like one where I will use Pronk for every noun, adjective and verb in an entire game recap and another where I'll make up clever nicknames for everyone like "That Guy" and "Mr. Dude." Oh, yeah, Orlando Cabrera now has 2,020 career hits. Don't think I forgot.

Player of the Game

Frank Herrmann won his 4th 'Player of the Game' of the season, coming into the game as middle relief, taking over for Carlos Carrasco in the 4th inning. Herrmann pitched 2 scoreless innings and struck out a batter. All of his 4 awards have come in Indians losses, so he's got that going for him. Four 'POG's ties him with Grady Sizemore, Carlos Carrasco and Shelley Duncan for the season. For an expanded up to date look at this seasons 'POG' standings, check out the 'Player of the Game' tab at the top of the page sometime tomorrow.

Feathers Up

Vinnie Pestano came back today and struck out the side in one inning, throwing nothing but heat. This comes after 3 straight bad outings by Pestano, the Indians top set up man. Since he returned from his back injury on June 11th, he has only had 2 games off in a row once so look out to see what he can do with 3 days off during the All-Star break.

The next game recap will be on Tuesday night, when I'll be covering Asdrubal Cabrera and Chris Perez's accomplishments at the All-Star Game.

Feathers Down

Jose Bautista: 4 Games played, 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 5 runs scored, 5/15 and only 4 walks.

Carlos Carrasco struggled for his second start in a row, going only 3 innings, but I'm going to ignore how terribly the Tribe has played this series and chalk it up to being very tired.

The Indians were out of this one early and saw their best shot at scoring big disappear in the first inning when Grady Sizemore and Austin Kearns each got out with the bases loaded. This type of negativity is exactly why I banned him from the blog in the first place.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 1 - Toronto Blue Jays 7

Player of the Game

Tonight's 'Player of the Game' belongs to Grady Sizemore for doing almost enough for the Indians to win. Grady hit the huge 2 run home run early in the game to tie the game at 3, but was unable to come through in the 9th inning with a runner on second. Overall Sizemore went 2-4 with 2 RBI and a run for a 'POG' of 4.58. Justin Masterson actually managed to lower his average 'POG' per game score by pitching only one inning in relief. He still has the best average on the team earning 3.54 points per game.

Feathers Up

The Indians offense has returned after a short absence. Over the last 25 games where the Indians have been 13-12, they have scored 4.08 runs per game after a terrible stretch of 10 games where they went 1-9 with 2.10 runs per game.

The Indians attempted a third comeback in a row against the Jays, but were unsuccessful for the second night in a row, losing the game in the 10th after Travis Buck tied it with an RBI double in the 9th.

Feathers Down

STOP PITCHING TO JOSE BAUTISTA! HE IS NOT HUMAN.

Apparently Manny Acta has a shorter memory than most Indians fans. After Travis Hafner hit a single in the 9th inning, he was pulled for a pinch runner. That pinch runner was not much faster than him and the increased odds of him scoring must have been far below the chances of the Indians scoring a single run, getting into extra innings and the 3 spot in the order coming to bat again.

For those who think that Josh Tomlin has been a better pitcher than Justin Masterson this season because he has more wins you should understand that there is a big difference between smoke and mirrors and true swing and miss talent. This is not to take anything away from Tomlin who has been very dependable all season and has been amazingly consistent to start his career, but if the Indians have an ace, it is without a doubt, Justin Masterson. This comment was spurred by the current poll on Indians.com in which 48% of fans have voted Josh Tomlin as the best pitcher on the Indians this season. Also, the pitching rotation will be reordered after the All-Star break with Masterson as the ace.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 4 - Toronto Blue Jays 5

Player of the Game

Michael Brantley showed tonight what a good hitter does when you give him 6 at bats. Brantley won the 'Player of the Game' for getting 4 singles, 2 runs, 2 RBI and generally being the center of all the Indians offense on the night. Quite a few Indians had good offensive nights, most notably the bottom of the lineup guys, including Jack Hannahan ('POG' score of 2.60), Lou Marson (2.03) and late-inning pinch hitter, Travis Buck (3.00). Brantley scored 5.25 points for himself as the Indians went on to score 7 runs.

Feathers Up

Three New York Yankees, including starting shortstop Derek Jeter, have decided not to play in this years All-Star Game. The great news here is that Asdrubal Cabrera is the default replacement for Jeter, so he should get to start the All-Star Game after all. Also, since Mariano Rivera dropped out as well, Chris Perez is now the top closer on the American League roster.

Just like Travis Hafner, Matt LaPorta has come off the disabled list on fire. LaPorta has had 2 total bases in each of his first three games back including a run scored in both tonight's and last night's contests.

The Indians mounted another comeback tonight, in like fashion as the one last night. In the 8th inning, down 6 runs, the Indians had their first 4 hitters get singles, followed by a Travis Buck double to score three runs in the inning and make the game a little more manageable.

Feathers Down

Mitch Talbot pulled another stinker tonight allowing 8 earned runs in 5.1 innings. A couple of the runs could possibly have been considered unearned, but a scoring change switched a Jack Hannahan error into a single. Either way Talbot has allowed more than 6 runs in each of his last two starts. Talbot is a pitch-to-contact type of pitcher and much of his struggle has just been balls that were hit to the wrong place. He was also hurt tonight by some less than perfect defense mostly between the combination of Hannahan and Lou Marson.

Orlando Cabrera is leaving runners on base like it's in style. Very rarely does a player get a chance to knock in 7 runners from scoring position in two days, but Cabrera not only had that chance, but managed not to knock a single one of them in. Over the last 2 games Cabrera is 0-8 with one double play and 7 RISPLOB.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 7 - Toronto Blue Jays 11

The Indians have done a lot of roster shuffling in the past weeks, so Burning River Baseball will try to sort it all out for you. Most of this began less than a month ago, on June 17th, when Travis Hafner came off the disabled list. To make room for Hafner, Travis Buck sent down to AAA. The next day Matt LaPorta was injurred, marking the return of Buck. Buck's stay was short lived as 6 games later he was again sent down to AAA for Shelley Duncan. This was also a one day trip as Shin-Soo Choo was added to the disabled list the next day after he was hit by a pitch. Two days later Lonnie Chisenhall made his Major League debut and the corresponding roster move lead to the release of veteran infielder Adam Everett. Two days after that Chris Perez was placed on the bereavement list and Josh Judy was promoted from AAA for the second time this season. After two days on bereavement, Perez returned to take the place of Fausto Carmona who hurt himself running the bases and was added to the 15 day DL. A few days after that Matt LaPorta returned from his base running injury and took Josh Judy's spot on the roster as he was returned to the Clippers. Yesterday, Zach McAllister was brought up to make a spot start for Carmona, so Cord Phelps was sent back to Columbus. This move left the Indians without any infield depth so as soon as McAllister's night was over, he was returned to AAA to make room for super utility player Luis Valbuena. 
I guess the only point of all this is that Adam Everett is gone and Luis Valbuena is here. But now you know.

This will be Valbuena's second stint on the Indians this season, although he did not get into a game during his last time up. As stated the last time he was brought up, Luis had a fantastic Spring and has been a star on an amazing Clippers team. Valbuena is hitting .313/.379/.511 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI. While he has still not figured out base running (3 times caught stealing in 6 attempts) his real asset is the ability to play almost every position. The Indians can confidently place him at 2B, SS, 3B or any outfield spot and not have to worry about using a below average player there. Truthfully, Jason Kipnis is having a slightly better season in almost every offensive category, but the Indians must want Valbuena's veteran, known ability rather than risk bringing another rookie up right now. I would really like to see Valbuena get a real chance to proove himself this time, as he has shown glimpses of possible 20/20 talent over his 3 years with the Indians. I would hate to see the Indians give up on him and have him turn into a star, or even a good utility player on some other team.  

Player of the Game

Travis Hafner brought a new meaning to the late inning comeback as he blasted a grand slam deep into the right field seats to win the game in the bottom of the 9th. This, combined with his two singles earlier in the game, earned him a 'POG' score of 7.52 and his 7th 'Player of the Game' of the season. There is no more dramatic ending to a baseball game than what he just did, taking a 3 run deficit and turning it into a one run win on a single pitch.

Feathers Up

The Jays carried a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Frank Fransico was the Toronto pitcher. Travis Buck led off with a single against Frank Francisco. Matt LaPorta doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Jack Hannahan walked on a 3-2 pitch.  Manager John Farrell signaled for LOOGY Luis Perez. Michael Brantley was ahead in the count, 3-1, then swung through two pitches. Asdrubal Cabrera ripped a 1-2 pitch to left for an RBI single.  With the bases loaded, Pronk stepped in and launched a fastball over the right-field wall. He knew it was gone as soon as he hit it. I have yet to find the last Indian to hit a walk off grand slam when down by three in the 9th. Tonight, we were all witnesses.

In the first inning, rookie starter Zach McAllister worked around a two-out walk to Bautista. Bautista is the leading home-run hitter in the majors since the start of 2010. When the Tribe played the Jays back in May, it seemed he was never worked around.

McAllister gave up five hits and the three runs (two earned). He threw 94 pitches. Not a bad Major League Debut.

The Blue Jays scored two in the fourth for a three-run advantage and had the bases loaded with one out and Eric Thames in a 3-0 count. McAllister came back to get Thames to pop to left. Bautista grounded sharply into the hole at short, where Asdrubal Cabrera turned what could have been a two-run single into a 6-4 force by making a superb grab-and-spin.

After the offense left 9 men on base tonight, the Tribe rallied in the 9th.

Feathers Down

Lonnie Chisenhall was hit in the helmet by a pitch from Jays starter Carlos Villanueva in the second inning. Chisenhall exited and was replaced by Jack Hannahan. Villanueva's pitch to Chisenhall struck the right ear flap and moved across the face. Indians head trainer Lonnie Soloff treated Chisenhall, who went to his knees for a half-minute before standing. The Indians later announced that Chisenhall left because of a facial contusion. Earlier this season at Class AAA Columbus, Chisenhall suffered concussion-like symptoms after a head-first slide. He missed time because of it. I don't anticipate him missing any time due to the bloody nose.

The Blue Jays scored in the second when Travis Snider drove in Aaron Hill with a single to center off McAllister. The run was unearned because of a rare error by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Tribe batters were 0-8 with runners in scoring position before the 9th inning tonight. They left 12 runners on base Wednesday night against the Yankees.

Final Score: Cleveland Indians 5 - Toronto Blue Jays 4